A different start perhaps?
by Split-Girl
Summary: Due to Pikachu being too troublesome and too much for a certain late rookie trainer to handle, Professor Oak obtained a Goomy from a friend and gave Goomy to Ash. And Ash, having no clue how to care for or train it, decided to stick around to learn more about the friendly, slimy little blob. It was the wisest choice he ever made. Smarter!Ash Future Shonen-Ai
1. Chapter 1

The Little Blob from Overseas

Ash looked at the new pokemon he received because he was so late.

Goomy, a little cute, slimy err...thing.

'What is he Professor? My Pokedex won't say a thing about Goomy.' Ash frowned at his pokedex. 'Is it defective?'

'No Ash, Kanto Pokedex only has records of Kanto Pokemon and Goomy is from Kalos.' said Professor Oak. 'Originally I'd give you Pikachu but right now, having him for a starter will be a really bad idea. Goomy is friendlier and good for rookies like you but Goomy are easily offended, so watch out.' he said, patting Goomy's head.

'So that means I'm at a loss...so I'll stick around for a bit to learn how to care for Goomy and how to train him Professor.' said Ash. 'Do you have a book about Goomy?'

'Sure! I have it right here in my lab as a just incase.' he said as he picked up a rather inch-thick book off a computer and gave it to Ash. '...and it appears by giving you Goomy, a foreign pokemon, you got back your common sense that most Trainers seem to forget upon acquiring their pokemon, thinking that things will be fine.' Professor Oak snorted. 'Overconfidence usually brings trouble young man! And maybe you should also learn how to care for yourself and your pokemon from your mother. Delia and your father are students of mine once. Just don't forget to return my book about Goomy!' he said, while giving

'OK Professor!' Ash beamed while carrying Goomy...and ignoring the slime. His house is nearby for laundry anyway!

xxx

'So that's what you decided dear?' Delia asked her son while the farewell committee she gathered listened.

'Yeah. While I studied about Kanto Pokemon, I know next to nothing about a Kalos Pokemon like Goomy. If I know nothing, how can I properly care for this friendly little guy or train him? We'll both be sitting ducks out there!' Ash reasoned. 'Professor Oak agrees with me so I'll learn all I can about Goomy while learning more Pokemon Care stuff...and how to make food, too!'

'Ohhh Ash!' Delia squealed. 'So mature and thoughtful unlike most trainers, I'm so proud!'

And so, word spread of Ash's good decision to remain behind in a bid to be a better trainer and a better carer for his pokemon before they set out together.

Delia teaches her son by day about Pokemon Care and Cooking, while Ash reads the book with Goomy on his shoulder after lunch. He finished reading in the first day alone and learned facts.

Goomy is widely considered the weakest Dragon-type Pokémon. It hides in damp and shady places, such as swamps, to prevent its slimy body from drying out. However, physical attacks bounce off it harmlessly due to its slimy membrane. Its weak to Ice, Dragon and Fairy Types and half-resistant to Electric, Grass, Water and Fire attacks. As a Goomy, after careful studies, it is capable of learning very few Normal, Water, Poison and Dragon Moves. Its diet is mainly leaves...or anything juicy just to stay hydrated. Goomy love being petted on antennae and finds being touched in its cheeks uncomfortable.

As a Sligoo, its still gooey and slimy but with the appearance of a snail and petting it antenna now causes it discomfort. But as a Sligoo, it is blind but makes up for it with incredible senses with its antenna that it may as well be...'not blind at all'. It can also secrete a form of acid slime that can dissolve anything. It evolves to Goodra only in rainy weather.

Goodra is the final form of Goomy and becomes a Pseudo-Legendary Pokemon. Its known as the friendliest Dragon and extremely affectionate and more friendlier than its previous forms...and has a tendency to hug its trainer, leaving them often covered in goo! Its also capable of throwing a punch that has power of an equivalent force of a hundred pro boxers combined.

The Goomy Line's abilities are Sap Sipper or Hydration, and they are permanently...Gooey. Gooey makes fighting pokemon slower caused by stickiness of the slime or simply pure discomfort as physical attacks do little to no harm, and even extend the length of its very soft and flexible 'horns' and tail. Even getting tossed or tumbled around doesn't work so the only way to hurt the Goomy Line is through type disadvantage, and special attacks. Sap Sipper effectively makes Grass-Type Attacks ineffective. Not only that, it absorbs the attack's power and the power taken can be used by the Goomy Line as extra power but by only one notch temporarily during battle. Not even multi-strike moves are exempt. As for Hydration, as long as Goomy or any pokemon with this ability gets exposure to water, it will heal them of any condition.

'Wow Goomy, your line is pretty amazing isn't it?' Ash grinned. 'You have powerful defenses and easy way to heal as long as you're wet! You're amazing! Idiots who call you weak don't know any better! They probably only judged you by what you can learn but hey, we can make it work right?' he said to his Goomy. 'First off tomorrow, show me what you know after lunch so I can decide what to teach you before we leave home.'

'Goomy!'

'And you might wanna keep from oozing slime...your slime is 80% water right? You'll dry out too quickly so learn some conservation in there...' "And hopefully you get less slimy!" he added as an afterthought.

Goomy knew Bide, Bubble Beam, Absorb, Protect, and Rain Dance. So Ash taught it Water Gun, Scald, Sludge Bomb, and Dragon Breath. He also trained Goomy in Timing, Target Practice and shooting speed by throwing rocks and then telling Goomy to shoot, learning how to shoot his techniques well and fast, and improving its stamina. For now they focused on shooting with different techniques per day which is tougher.

'It seems Ash is really training that Goomy hard Professor.' said Delia as she and Professor Oak watched from a distance. 'Aren't they the weakest of all Dragon Type first forms?'

'Yes, but to compensate, they have good defense stats.' said Professor Oak. 'And its easy to heal just by dumping water on it so its OK. It has very few reasons to see a Pokemon Center either and very easy to care for. Ash will have an easy time compared to most trainers and I can see he saw Goomy's potential despite its abysmal reputation.'

'Really?'

'Really. Look and watch Delia.' Professor Oak grinned as they watched the pair. 'This is why I became a Professor of Pokemon and Human Relations. Once he's OK with Goomy and ready to set out on his own, I might give him that Pikachu too.'

'Didn't you say it has a rather unagreeable personality? It might harm my baby!' Delia protested.

'Right now he's watching.' said Professor Oak. 'I told him to watch his would-be trainer and make his own decision. He seems to believe all humans suck and to get that out of him I endured several shocks before I had Gloom put him to sleep so he wouldn't run!' he deadpanned.

Indeed from afar...

Pikachu is watching with a critical eye.

'Awright Goomy! You mastered Dragon Breath, your current strongest technique!' Ash cried happily. 'Now we can begin our travels with no worries at all!'

'Goo~my!' Goomy cheered as he jumped on Ash, affectionately nibbling his ear causing him to yelp good-naturedly.

'Eek! Tickles! Ahaha stop, I'm sensitive there!' Ash gasped out between wheezes of laughter with his face red. 'C'mon buddy, let's go home and whip up dinner! You need to get ready for agility and dodging week tomorrow!'

'Goo!'

'...sensitive ears?' Professor Oak blinking owlishly asked his ex-student who blushed, and acted all demure and shy.

'Oh dear, he got that from me...'

The days continued on...with Goomy learning to move quickly next with Ash throwing rocks at him as he moves faster and faster and jumps higher and higher with sheer stubbornness.

When the two-week training period ended...

At the Laboratory...

Ash got a bigger backpack compared to last time, the backpack he intended to use before setting off was smaller than this. And he was there simply because his mother called him there due to some business she had with her former teacher.

'Looks like you're fully ready now Ash.' said Professor Oak delightfully as on Ash's shoulder, is Goomy.

'Yeah. I'm gonna bulldoze the lousy reputation Goomy has at the Indigo League...people just don't know how great he is and by then he's a powerful Goodra through hard work!' said Ash enthusiastically. 'If people only took time to see a Goomy's potential, the lousy reputation wouldn't exist in the first place!' he grunted. 'If Goomy are trained real well, they make great fighters too! He proved that in our two weeks training camp!' Goomy was deeply touched by his trainer's passionate words about his kind judging by the sparkle on its eyes and blushing. 'I even took videos!'

'Goo...! GOOMY?!' he began crying. 'WAAAAAAHHHH! GOOOOOHOOHOOHOO!'

'Goomy?!' Ash yelped as his Goomy began crying and wondered what's wrong and the adults just looked amused.

'Oh no need to worry dear, Goomy is deeply touched by your confidence in him!' Delia giggled as the two adults laughed. 'I don't think the unlucky ones got such comforting words from anyone before!'

'Indeed...if you're this kind of a person Ash, all pokemon you catch will really love you!' Professor Oak beamed. 'So, those videos...? Those videos could really inspire confidence in would-be Goomy Trainers.'

'Oh, they're in my bedroom on my old study table.' said Ash. 'Its OK.' he said as he managed to calm down the now sniffling pokemon.

'I wonder if you'll do just as well with a Magikarp...' Professor Oak chuckled. Ash sweatdropped. Magikarp...can it even be redeemable?!


	2. In Which Ash Hibernates

In Which Ash Hibernates

Upon leaving Pallet Town together, Ash set Goomy on the ground.

'Alright, still more Stamina and Endurance Training by walking. We'll walk together whether uphill or downhill until you become Goodra. That way your stamina and endurance are high, enabling you to fight in long, drawn-out battles if some jerks can do that...and also, you can keep using techniques without tiring easily too.' he told him. 'Let's go and hopefully catch us some new friends!' he grinned enthusiastically.

'Goo goo!' with that, they explored Route One Forest together.

'Let's see...given my lessons in school, the Pokemon that live here are mostly Normal, Flying and Flying types and rarely any Water Type due to the thin brook here not suitable for Water habitation.' he told Goomy. 'And the ones that live here are mostly the Pidgey Line, Spearow Line, Sandshrew Line, and Rattata Line...unless there's some new migrates recently...I doubt that.' he shrugged. 'But we better steer clear of Spearow...their volatile tempers we'd rather do without!' he shuddered. 'I hear that 1/10 trainers, they meet a bad end with Spearow.' Goomy meeped. 'That's why we better be careful in any forest we're in.'

'Goo!'

And so, they carefully explored Route 1 together...making camp for days as they trained some more while looking for new friends.

Unfortunately, none on Route 1 and somehow ended up in Terracotta Town. A seaside town that supplies seafood to Viridian City, League Camps, Pewter, and Sable Cities and Pallet Town. He bought a new supply stock of food before moving on to Pewter City upon having a REAL map. But he stopped by the beach, and ended up catching a weird and unusual fish...he phoned Professor Oak about it, too!

Fish in question is a shabby, old-looking fish-like Pokémon with a light brown body covered in dark, irregular spots. It has large, deep-set eyes and big, pink lips. The tail and pectoral fins are dull blue and tattered in appearance. The dorsal fin is triangular with a hole in the middle. He learned from Professor Oak that he got a Feebas, a rare fish to end up in Kanto and often live...anywhere as long as there's water. How it ended up in Kanto not even the Professor knew but its as dumb as a Magikarp but at least its evolved form Milotic is sleek and beautiful, and smart! However unlike Magikarp, Feebas can learn from Move Tutors making it slightly more useful but he would have to spend money for it, and then raise it in battle.

Ash did just that. He had to buy TMs for Water Gun, Scald, Brine, Water Pulse and Iron Tail, and then had him spar with Goomy while surfing the net for what Milotic can do. He also caught himself a Caterpie upon getting back to the Main Road leading to Pewter, and a Pidgeotto.

Upon arrival to Pewter City, Ash was finally able to relax.

'Phew...OK, no new friends so far and I just discovered I have a lousy sense of direction!' Ash swore to himself in annoyance. 'The only good thing that came out of this is we have more time to train Goomy.' he sighed. 'But for now, I want a nice soft Pokemon Center bed than even a Boulder Badge.' he said gloomily as they went to the Pokemon Center together and Ash looked like a zombie by this point.

'Whoa young man, you look a tad under the weather.' Officer Jenny gasped out at the dead-sleepy-and-tired looking boy.

'Try getting lost in Route 1, ending up in Terracotta town and then Sable City, I missed Viridian but at least I got to Pewter, the first gym stopover.' said Ash in Zombie-Mode and Officer Jenny sweatdropped. 'So where's the nearest Pokemon Center, I really want a soft bed right now...'

'Oh, right this way this way...and is that pokemon yours?'

'Yeah. Just ask Professor Oak.'

xxx

Professor Oak STARED at Officer Jenny.

She called him, saying she found a lad that's worse for wear with 'an unusual pokemon' complete with photo and he said he knew the kid so he asked what happened to Ash Ketchum, the boy with the Goomy.

'He said he got lost in Route 1!' she exclaimed. 'He ended up in Terracotta Town and Sable City, never even saw Viridian City too! How can he get lost in the main road when the path is pretty obvious?!'

'...that's what I'd like to know.' Professor Oak deadpanned. 'His sense of direction isn't bad! Maybe he went to try to catch new pokemon and wound up getting lost! Oh dear, his mother will have a cow over this...' he shuddered. 'How is he?'

'He collapsed as soon as we had one foot in into the center.' Officer Jenny sighed. 'His er Goomy looked frantic and began panicking until Nurse Joy said he's terribly exhausted. But how to deal with a Goomy? We've never seen one before!'

'A Goomy gets dehydrated so it needs water to rehydrate. It also heals just by pouring water on it and he's mostly...well, goo. His only problem would be digestion problems if he ate poisonous leaves by accident as Goomy eat mostly leaves in the wild but that problem doesn't last long as long as he drinks plenty of water. They're OK with any food as long as its juicy or soupy to stay hydrated. As long as Goomy has access to water, soupy food and juicy fruits, he'll be OK.'

'Alright, I'll tell Nurse Joy that.' said Officer Jenny. 'We'll look after him Professor.'

'We appreciate that Officer Jenny.' Professor Oak smiled.

xxx

'Gooo...' Goomy is very worried for his Trainer.

'He'll be OK Goomy. But he's terribly exhausted you know.' said Nurse Joy. 'I've seen people and pokemon sleep three days at most when really super-tired.'

'GOO?!' Goomy gawked, gobsmacked.

'Yes, that long.'

Goomy became even more depressed.

'Don't be sad Goomy. In order to heal properly, both people and pokemon must sleep.' Nurse Joy told him. 'Not everyone has it easy like you.' she just got wind from Officer Jenny how to deal with the strange pokemon. Sure Goomy's cute and adorable but not even she would touch one...he's slimy and girls don't like slime!

Ash however, slept for four days before fully waking up.

'Goo! Goo goo gooooomeeeee!' Goomy wailed while nuzzling into his trainer's body.

'Oh yah, I fainted upon stepping foot into the center...I must've worried you a lot huh?' Ash chuckled while patting his pokemon.

'Goo!' Goomy huffed as Ash got up and stretched and saw himself in hospital pajamas.

'Well, I better take a shower.' he said. 'Haven't had any since we left Sable City after all. Wanna come?'

'Goo!' Goomy hopped into Ash's shoulder and they went to shower together...with Goomy enjoying the tap water from the faucet in the sink while Ash used the shower. Ash being a country boy knew how to 'bathe properly'. It was practically ingrained into it by his mom.

Get some soaking, soap yourself once, scrub yourself carefully with a pumice stone until no more dirt comes out, rinse, soap again, and then shampoo the hair twice if in the woods for too long. But if in a city for days, he shampoos and soaps only once.

But when his turn to travel began, he was taught grooming by his mother.

Its not just girls who groom themselves after all. He was taught how practical it is and there's no shame in doing it. Besides, she wants her 'little boy' squeaky clean and people like to hang around neat and clean people more than smelly, messy slobs who reek of body odor with filthy hands!

So yes, he has a grooming kit just for cleaning and trimming purposes only but he'd still rather do it where nobody sees him. He is still self-conscious about his manly pride thank you and finds it embarrassing.

xxx

Police Station...

Officer Jenny found Ash pretty much alright. The contents of his bag aren't suspicious at all.

In his pockets are his pokedex and wallet.

He has several thin notebooks where in it is each type of Pokemon and moves they can learn. He has one for Normal, Fire, Fighting, Water, Flying, Grass, Poison, Electric, Ground, Psychic, Rock, Ice, Bug, Dragon, Ghost, Dark, Steel and Fairy types. On the front cover along with the types are their weakness-types and resistant tos.

She wasn't ashamed to take photos of some pages...she IS in possession of pokemon after all! Jennies of Kanto uses Growlithe, Pidgeot, and a Tangela! She could use some things to help her make her job better.

Next is a grooming kit, toiletry kit, medical kit, cooking ware, dining ware, a big straw, a compact one-man foldable tent, a vacuum inflatable sleeping bag, a raincoat, binoculars, spare changes of clothes and a pair of extra shoes, a notebook with the label 'cookbook'(Nurse Joy read it), a small blender(?) and lots of groceries(some of which, Nurse Joy spent for Goomy upon getting approval from Ash's mother). All of these, documented.

She was impressed.

Because she was pretty sure no kid his age has ever thought about these things in the kid's bag...

xxx

Upon finishing bathing, Ash was surprised that some of his groceries are gone. The berries and his own food missing and his blender is clearly used with a note stuck to it.

-Dear Ash,

With permission from your mother,  
I used some of your groceries to care  
for your Pokemon. Well, better be used  
than expire quickly in your bag...and  
the rest is in the fridge. You can get  
it back when you wake dear.

-Nurse Joy

P.S- Goomy is sad and worried. DO  
cheer him up when you wake...oh, and  
your laundry is taken care of, too.(^_^)

'Oh so that's where the food went...' Ash sighed in relief. 'Phew.' no more problems!

He put his blender back in and double-checked his belongings, before seeing Nurse Joy.

'Hello there Ash!' Nurse Joy greeted. 'Feeling better now? You slept for four days now and today would've been the fifth!'

'Four days?!' Ash yelped in disbelief. 'I thought I slept for a day!' Nurse Joy looked at him, amused with hands on her hips.

'You have high stress levels and at the state of extreme exhaustion you were pretty much moving on just stubborn willpower until you got here, mister!' she told him with a chuckle. 'People who are super-exhausted sleep more!'

'Ah...' Ash went (O.O)

'Oh, and you better phone your mother and Professor Oak, they're super-worried about you.'

And so...Ash got treated to his mother's wailing when he DID call.

xxx

Upon leaving the Pokemon Center fresh as a daisy...

'Alright Goomy, ready for a Gym Battle?' Ash asked Goomy. 'You trained real hard and got a four-day holiday so you're just as perky as me!' he grinned and Goomy nodded vigorously.

'Goo!'

'Let's go!' and Ash marched towards the Gym for his first battle...


	3. Hero Disaster!

Hero Disaster!

Brock Slate.

Age: 15

Status: Pewter Gym Leader AND Single 'Parent' to his younger nine siblings!

Right now, he is in utter disbelief.

This Trainer Ash Ketchum, used a **Caterpie** on his Geodude...craftily beat him with just dodging and String Shot(it evolved to Metapod afterward), and then a tiny weird blob named Goomy defeated his Onix...and then it proved to be a capable, agile battler, not bad for a ball of slimy blob!

'You came well-prepared Ash.' said Brock as he presented Ash with the Boulder Badge.

'Well, I want to prove that big things come from small packages.' said Ash as Goomy climbed up to his shoulder, affectionately nibbling his ears, causing him to gasp sensually. 'N-not again...Goomy!'

Brock blushed.

Such sounds shouldn't come from a ten years old kid.

'Er sorry about that...he nibbles my ears and I'm sensitive there.' Ash shuddered, causing Brock to do a double-take. 'Well, thanks for the battle Brock!'

...and Ash left his gym.

At that instant, he knew Ash is in for great things, if he's capable of being versatile with very unusual pokemon...he wished he was there to see it but alas, he can't leave...

xxx

'Goomy and Metapod did well.' said Ash as they pitched camp in the forests of Pewter. 'But first, time to train! Come out, Feebas! Pidgeotto!'

'Bas!'

'Geot-to!'

'Alright guys, time to train again!' Ash grinned. 'Feebas, spar with Goomy! Pidgeotto you'll be learning new stuff from me!'

Pidgeotto originally knew Gust, Quick, Sand and Wing Attack, Whirlwind and Double-Edge, so he began teaching Acrobatics, Aerial Ace, Air Cutter and Slash, Defog, Dragon Ascent, Hurricane, Oblivion Wing, Roost, Sky Attack, Sky Drop and Steel Wing. One move per day resulting in them camping for almost two weeks. He now knows more moves than Goomy but that's to be expected. As a Goomy he could learn fewer moves until later evolutions in which he'll surpass Pidgeotto even as a future Pidgeot. But Goomy remains as Ash's most-skilled pokemon.

Every time Pidgeotto practices a move for hours in a day, Ash supervises the sparring between Feebas and Goomy. And every night, Ash would make Metapod watch video recordings of a Butterfree's moves through the internet so he isn't left behind, and explaining things to him carefully while by day, he watches Pidgeotto train but there are only a few Flying Moves he could do as a Butterfree.

Upon evolving into Butterfree, he began practicing as well.

Rumors flew about a Trainer training outside the city that Brock caught wind of, and saw Ash again training his Pokemon.

Just that...where'd he get that butt-ugly fish?!

For days, Ash stayed here in his city, training until his Feebas is a much better fighter than it used to.

In time Brock also got more impressed that he resolved to teach Geodude and Onix more.

But the next day...

Ash is gone!

He asked Nurse Joy for Ash's whereabouts.

'Oh, Ash? He left after having his Pidgeotto, Feebas and Metapod checked. He's probably en route to Cerulean by now...

'Oh really? Thanks...'

xxx

Indeed, Ash is on his way to Cerulean. But first he had to go through Mt. Moon for that.

Just that...he got lost again and ended up in Rota City where there's a Medieval Theme...and a Hero of the Year Festival too. A yearly event where interested trainers gather and the winner of the competition gets crowned as 'Hero of the Aura'.

'Wow Goomy...wanna participate?' Ash grinned as he saw the flyer. 'It'll be cool if we become heroes for a day, don't you think? Besides, we got four teammates and the tournament requires only one this'll be so cool!'

'Goo!' Goomy chirped enthusiastically.

'Let's go inform Mom! Just that she won't be happy that I got lost again...'

Indeed, Delia wasn't too happy that he got lost in the mountains. In fact, he's lucky he found a city up there!

Just that, he has to get into a costume first before he could participate...and chose a certain costume...

And so...

 **Presenting the ruler of Cameron City! The illustrious Queen of Cameron Palace, Lady Ilene!** the referee boomed out in a loud, hammy voice and from the royal corner of the audience seats, is a beautiful blonde woman in a pink dress, carrying a Mime Jr.

'And now in honor of the noble Sir Aaron and his noble deeds, we will now begin our annual Pokemon Contest!' she declared as the crowd roared in applause.

Ash alternated between Goomy, Butterfree and Pidgeotto as Feebas' wits aren't good enough yet...but as he reached the finals, Goomy became Sliggoo and Pidgeotto became Pidgeot!

The tournament lasted a day as a hundred people participated divided into pairs from all over the world...and Ash's versatility and creativity with his team's moveset despite type advantage helped him out.

As he became Hero of the Year, he was presented with the Staff of Sir Aaron. 'This is the Staff of the Guardian that once belonged to Sir Aaron.' said Queen Ilene as Ash received the Staff. 'According to our tradition, the winner of the Pokemon Contest is named Aura Guardian of the Year and presented with this staff.'

'Its an honor Queen Ilene.' said Ash, thrilled with the 'honor of the year' and he can't wait to tell his parents...but he has to sit for the rest of the dance as a 'Knight for the Day!'

'On behalf of my kingdom, it is now yours.' and she declared the dance ball to begin as Ash watched the dance with his Pokemon out, bar Feebas.

But as he sat, he heard the anguished words, **Why did you betray me?**

"Huh?" who was THAT?

And an unexpected thing happened as Ash heard another voice again. **I'm awaiting you...**

'H-hey...I've been hearing a creepy voice for sometime now...' Ash told Queen Ilene's attendant, freaked out.

'Creepy voice?'

'Yeah...a man.' said Ash. 'Even though it's just you, me and the Queen in the podium...'

'I assure you there's no ghost here young man...maybe its a Ghost Pokemon playing pranks.'

'If you say so...'

But Ash wasn't the least bit assured at all.

When the dance ball ended, it was time for the fireworks show where he was required to pose like Sir Aaron in the painting. Just that...there was something unexpected in his award!

The staff began shaking and glowing and struggling under Ash's hold.

'What's going on?!' the attendant gasped out as the party came to a halt.

'I don't know, the staff's been acting weird...moving on its own! I heard voices since I got it too!' Ash gasped out. 'Sliggoo! Use Protect on the Queen and the attendant now! Pidgeot, Butterfree standby!' he cried as the staff glowed intensely as his Pokemon quickly did as told and the force released a light that blew Ash backwards as the light shot away from him...revealing a black and blue dog-like pokemon. A Lucario.

'W-was that supposed to happen?' the attendant asked the Queen feebly.

'I don't know...'

Lucario ran towards and jumped at Ash, demanding, **Sir Aaron, why did you abandon the queen?! Answer me!**

'Y-you're the voice I was hearing...so you're using Telepathy? And you got the wrong guy!' Ash croaked out at the obviously upset and angry pokemon.

 **Wha-?** Lucario opened his eyes to see that indeed, he got the wrong guy...and ran off.

'What was that?' Ash blinked owlishly. 'And how can a pokemon be locked away in a staff?'

'That's Lucario.' said the attendant.

'According to our history, a Lucario served under Sir Aaron...that one might be his.' said Queen Ilene.

'So staves are used instead of Pokeballs back then?!' Ash blurted incredulously as he could imagine how many staves trainers carried back then, and he's now glad for the invention of pokeballs.

'...we better follow him.' said Queen Ilene. 'He may not have any idea how much time has passed since then. His era was when my ancestor Queen Rin ruled and it was a time of war back then. He may get confused.' so they chased after Lucario with the Queen knowing where exactly he'd go to first.

Lucario's old bedroom that she said is now a part of a museum!

xxx

 **Queen Rin!** Lucario cried in relief as they caught up to him.

'I'm afraid I'm not who you think I am, Sir Lucario.' said Queen Ilene, hearing his voice. 'I am the descendant of my ancestor, Queen Ilene.' she said as Lucario's face fell as she approached and embraced him. 'You've been asleep Lucario...for a long time.'

 **B-but that's just not possible!** Lucario gasped out, stammering, backing away and freaked out. **Just a few days ago, this room...**

'Please believe me.' Queen Ilene pleaded. 'It may seem like days ago but reality is you haven't walked this palace for centuries.' she said to the horrified pokemon. Upon returning to the throne room, she continued.

'According to the stories that were passed down for generations, you and Sir Aaron perished in the battle. Can you explain what happened?'

 **There were two huge armies on the move.** said Lucario. **One side swore to destroy the other, and our Kingdom is trapped in the middle...the situation was hopeless.** he said grimly.

'But how was Sir Aaron able to make peace?' Ash blurted out and Lucario gave an inquiring look to the Queen.

'Our legend says Sir Aaron was able to end the battles and saved the palace.' said Queen Ilene.

 **What?! But that's impossible!** Lucario choked out in anguished anger. **He deserted the queen, fled and trapped me inside the staff!**

'But in the legend he's a revered hero.' said Ash. 'Could it be wrong?' he wondered aloud as Lucario looked up to the painting of his former master.

'We will look further into the matter and determine fact from fiction.' Queen Ilene promised Lucario. 'But one thing has not changed.' she said. 'This palace is your home. You may stay as long you like.'

 **I am deeply indebted your highness.** Lucario knelt on one knee with his right paw on his chest.

'By the way Lucario, you mistook me for Sir Aaron earlier...is it because I wore a similar costume?' Ash asked him. Lucario looked at him, then at the painting of Sir Aaron on his Pidgeot...and Ash _also has a Pidgeot_.

 **...the aura I sensed in you is just like Sir Aaron's.** he said.

'Huh? I have aura too?!'

'And you also have a Pidgeot...' the attendant chuckled.

'Yeah but my Pidgeot is younger compared to that in the painting.' Ash deadpanned as he and his Pidgeot looked at the painting. 'That Pidgeot is big enough for a _man_ to ride on!' he exclaimed. 'And to start with the investigation, how about Lucario start off where he was last found? Where was the staff?'

'...in the mountains...heading for the Tree of Beginning.' said Queen Ilene. 'He did say he intends on going there...'

'Alright, we should go.' said Ash. 'We have to document it somehow, right? He may have left something behind on the way to the tree don't you think? Once we solve Sir Aaron's mystery, Lucario and the Kingdom will learn stuff that wasn't in history and give everyone their closure. Problem solved!'

'You may be right...' the Queen mused. 'The departure shall be tomorrow morning after breakfast.' she said. 'I will prepare things for your journey. We will also take consideration of requests.'

'Right!'

With that, Ash made requests already. Rations, for instance, and a camera that can be worn around Pidgeot's neck so there can be video footage, as well as extra tapes and battery cartridges...just incase.

xxx

The phone in Rota City Pokemon Center...

'So that's what you're up to now eh Ash?' Professor Oak grinned. 'It turns out you're also a potential Aura Guardian. Learn what you can from Lucario once he has his answers, OK?'

'Right but right now he's too gloomy about history. I'll find the opportunity to learn from him when the time is right Professor.' said Ash.

'Be careful you hear? Nobody dared to go into the Tree of Beginning due to its defense mechanisms.' Professor Oak warned. 'Pokemon can safely go in and out but humans...humans are seen as viruses and will be attacked by blobby antibodies if they step foot in it. So riding on Pidgeot and never getting off will be your bet. Otherwise, just get the heck out of the tree.' he said seriously. 'No scientist has ever dared to venture inside and now you, a ten years old kid will so this is nerve-wracking...'

'Alright.'


	4. Lucario and the Truth of History

Lucario and the Truth of History

The next morning, breakfast...while the humans and Lucario ate at the table with the cooking of the Royal Chef, Ash's pokemon ate behind their trainer on the floor.

Sliggoo eats his usual soup and berries, Butterfree happily fed on sweet berry mush courtesy of Ash's blender, and both Feebas and Pidgeot ate Poffins.

'The items you requested for have been prepared Ash.' said Queen Ilene.

Ash requested for a modified necklace video camera for Pidgeot to wear, spare tapes and extra batteries, a bike with thick, rubber wheels filled with hardened tire gel instead of air, foods good for making sandwiches, the berries he listed and borrowing someone's fire pokemon and he was lent a Magmar that will only follow his orders during this mission. Upon returning to the palace, Magmar will return to his owner.

And so, their journey began on the bike.

First obstacle? Hot Spring Geysers.

'Oh-oh, we better trek carefully...' Ash gulped as they carefully rode around the pools that are now spouting geysers.

Soon, by nightfall...when it got too dark to travel, Ash set up camp. Good thing for Pokemon with carefully-used Water Guns.

 **...fruits...melt into the water?** Lucario frowned. **What's going on?**

'Oh, they only do if put in hot water for some reason...they dissolve into cooked gelatinous pulp somehow.' Ash told him. 'Then I have to stir it carefully so it doesn't burn and it cooks within one minute. Once it cools down, it will begin to solidify if I put them in molds to make Poffins, a form of gelatinous fruity pastry all pokemon like.' he explained. 'There are sweet, sour, spicy and bitter poffins, and sometimes you can mix two flavors together. Easy to make and even commoners can make them to easily provide food for their pokemon. And I make the ones they like because everything else would taste horrible.' Ash explained.

'Times changed Lucario. Human and pokemon alike now live in peace and easier as humans and pokemon worked together to make life easier compared to before. Yet also humans who form criminal organizations have gotten more dangerous than before.' he said. 'Pokemon poaching, trafficking, slavery...the laws also changed to better catch these criminals. Sometimes things end easy and peacefully, and sometimes things end ruthlessly.'

'For rookie trainers like me we have to watch out because we're easy pickings by these criminals, stealing our friends for criminals' money.' Ash continued with a frown. 'That's why we train hard to stand a fighting chance. You be careful too due to your reputation. You're the only ancient Lucario alive to this day and you'd fetch a high price in the market, so do your darndest to fight for your freedom if they ever came for you. They fight dirty with no honor and you have no choice but to play fire with fire, tit for tat.' he said, speaking in a way Lucario can understand.

 **I see...so the world changed...without us.** Lucario mused softly as he went to sulk somewhere.

'Dinner will be ready soon, don't wander too far!' Ash called out as he put the trays filled with cooked fruit pulp. After that, be began cooking Sliggoo's soup and Butterfree's mush in the Blender he has. Once its done, he made his, Magmar's and Lucario's dinner. Nice, big clubhouse sandwiches with vegetables and ham.

Once upon having dinner, Lucario noted the differences in the food alone. **...human food?** he looked at his food then at Ash's pokemon who clearly has it different.

'Well, I have no idea what Poffin flavors you and Magmar would like and due to our mission with limited resources, I can't afford to experiment right now.' said Ash sheepishly. 'That's why you two are eating bread like me.'

 **Oh...**

'Mag. Magmar mag mag? Magmar magmar.' Magmar asked Lucario who in turn translated, **How to make Poffins? He wants his trainer to make some.**

'Oh, that's easy. To start with, boil some water in the pot until its hot, but NOT boiling. In the meantime while you wait for the water to get hot, chop the berries up into pieces but for berries with tough skin you have to peel them off first.' Ash started. 'The amount of berries must always be equal to that of the water in the pot. Once you put the berries in, despite the difficulty, stir them slowly until they melt into a doughy texture. Kind of like comparable to pancake batter.' he told Magmar. 'If its that stage, its easy to spill so stir slowly but not too slow or the bottom contents will burn.'

'At the second stage, the dough will turn brown so from that point, stir faster but still, careful not to spill. The third stage will be when the smell changes. The smell of cooked fruit. At that point, you no longer have to worry about spilling so stir as fast as possible until the dough develops a glossy sheen on the surface. Then quickly take it off the fire. And as Poffin dough cools, it solidifies so its best that you have poffin molds available on hold. Even a cupcake or muffin mold will do. Upon pouring everything in, wait for the Poffins to cool down and by the time its cooled down, it also perfectly solidifies by then and good enough to eat. The best Poffins are always made under one minute so the trick is determining the temperature of the fire used for cooking. It can get tricky and become a trial and error process until you get it right. Easy to explain, its tougher when we're actually doing it!' he laughed. 'I burned a lot when I started out!' he admitted.

'However, each pokemon has their own preferences.' Ash continued. 'Some like them Sweet, Sour, Spicy, Dry or Bitter or sometimes, a little bit of both like a mix of two flavors or texture due to some pokemon liking it dry. When it comes to that, you must chop up berries of two different flavors or texture, and must be the same amount. No more, no less.'

'Pidgeot and Feebas like theirs Dry-Sweet as an example.' he told them. 'A sweet poffin is pink and a dry poffin is blue. Mixing them together results in a purple poffin like the one they have.' he said, glancing at the pokemon in question and their food.

'Mag...'

 **Oh...**

'Well, Sliggoo and Butterfree have it different though.' said Ash. 'Butterfree live off of tree sap but since that's not always available and they often rely on larger bug pokemon willing to help them cut into the tree bark for food but not all wild pokemon are nice and helpful, so I make him Berry Mush mixed with honey. Mush is made by crushing fruit into a soupy pulpy texture. As for Sliggoo who must always be hydrated, his food is always soup and chopped juicy berries. He can eat poffins too but its not helping him replenish the water in his body. We always have to watch out lest he gets dehydrated. That's an example of not all pokemon can eat Poffins. There's their physiology to be considered.'

Ash would know those since his mother made him study big time in the two weeks he stayed at home in order to make a great starter out of Goomy.

The next day...

Ash was glad he made a lot of Poffins last night, so all he has to worry about, was Sliggoo's food, and sandwiches. They then got off on an early start, continuing their journey until the find Time Flowers...containing Sir Aaron's memories that they recorded in both video and in paper.

And upon getting to the tree...

'This is it guys.' said Ash after letting Magmar and Butterfree remain outside while putting Sliggoo and Feebas back in their pokeballs after a final meal, and Ash parked his bike somewhere. 'From this point on, I must always be riding on Pidgeot. I can't step foot into the tree.' he said.

 **Why is that?**

'Doctor Oak told me that this tree...is alive. Sentient.' Ash told him as they looked up. 'Adults before me have tried to explore this tree upon discovery but none of them made it out due to the tree's defenses. Pokemon can safely come and go, humans and their machines aren't granted that privilege. I don't know how its like towards Aura-using or possessing humans though. That's why I must always ride on Pidgeot, never touching any part of the tree. Lucario, you are to take us to more Time Flowers that you sense and make them work. Magmar and Butterfree will protect me and Pidgeot.' he said. 'I better replace the battery and tape before we go just incase. I can't do replacements within the tree.'

Ash replaced the battery and tape cartridges with fresh ones inside Pidgeot's camera and he went to 'do business' behind some rocks before going in.

And what they found...

Lucario didn't take too well.

He spent every waking consciousness he had in grief thinking his master betrayed him and yet...he died using up his aura combined with Mew's power to pacify the two armies and prevent the war from happening and destroying Rota thus he DID save the country with a great cost to himself. Mew himself confirmed what they saw in the last flower on the treetop.

Lucario howled in grief, anguish, guilt and mourning.

'...Lucario, we will be waiting for you at the castle OK?' Ash told the howling pokemon sadly as he and the pokemon felt sorry for him. 'Take your time in this chamber so you have your closure.' he advised. 'Mew, can you teleport us out of the tree and keep Lucario company afterward until he feels better? That would be great.' he requested the flying pink pokemon who nodded and teleported them to the safe base of the tree to where his bike is.

'Pidgeot, lead me back to the castle.' he instructed as he recalled back Magmar and Butterfree. 'You know my sense of direction sucks...' Pidgeot laughed before leading him back on his bike.

Next day, early morning...Ash returned. Alone.

'Where is Sir Lucario?' Queen Ilene asked Ash.

'We left him in the treetop where Sir Aaron's last moments are recorded in the Time Flowers.' said Ash. 'He's a real hero all along. He sacrificed himself by giving up all his aura to Mew so Mew can use his powers through the tree in a wide range to pacify the two armies so no battle will occur in Rota, saving this country. He didn't make it and Lucario...well...' Ash croaked in discomfort while childishly scraping his foot on the floor. 'I asked Mew to keep him company. Who knows if he'll stay there or return home here. You'll understand more if you watch the videos. I just hope human technology can record images of Time Flowers so maybe its a good thing I requested a notebook and writing pens to write everything down.' he said sadly. 'I even took photos with my Pokedex as further proof.'

'I see...so that's how it ended...' said Queen Ilene softly, looking somber. 'May I have your progress reports?'

'Sure...I have them numbered in order but I'll need Professor Oak's help to develop the photos in my Pokedex so that might come a bit late.' said Ash. 'And Professor Oak also told me that he would like to see the tapes too so he might drop by. Scientists are interested in the Tree in the past but no one made it out alive, man or machine they couldn't fully explore it around the middle levels. I'm the only human who made it in and out. The tree is sentient according to Professor Oak. A living organism. It sees humans and machines as 'bacteria' and then it sends out 'antibodies' to deal with them so I couldn't get off of Pidgeot or touch anything. And its safe for Pidgeot wearing the camera too. Heck, I didn't even dare touch the Time Flowers in there even though I have aura too.' he said. 'Sir Aaron must have done the same thing I did to safely reach the treetop and Mew. By riding his Pidgeot. He knew that the tree is sentient.'

'I...see...we didn't know that.' the attendant gasped out as she and the Queen, as well as the Royal Advisor stared.

'Well, now you do...so going in there is not really advisable.' Ash smiled ruefully. 'Only pokemon can come and go.'

With his mission done, Ash was rewarded well for his troubles...but he'd rather that the money be sent home to his mother in Pallet Town. He thinks he can't trust himself holding seven digits in his wallet just yet.

xxx

Pallet Town...Professor Oak's Laboratory...

Professor Oak got a job from Ash, and made a copy of his work, before printing out the photos while listening to Ash's tale over the phone, and the sad fate of Rota's revered hero.

Professor Oak was treated to a photo of the hero himself in crystallized stasis up in the treetop, his final resting place.

'I see, so that's what happened...and how it was done. That's quite a grim ending to history there Ash.' said Professor Oak, shaking his head. 'And you're so young yet exposed to grim history.'

/Well how was I supposed to know that's what I'll find up there?/ Ash sighed. /Uhhh don't tell mom OK? I just told her that I 'did Rota a great service under great classification' so Queen Ilene will send my reward home./ he said in emphasis. /Well its something I can't carry around with me you know./ he said. /At any rate, I'm staying until you send those photos here./

'Right right...I'll hurry shall I?'

xxx

The next day, around afternoon...

The photos are sent to Rota, enabling the Royal Family to complete History.

'I haven't seen the Queen...where is she miss?' Ash asked the attendant.

'Well, she is with the historians and the descendants of Sir Aaron's family.' said the attendant. 'Sir Aaron is of a noble family back then and at this era, they are wealthy farmers but are still of high-ranking noble Rota lineage and due to his efforts, his family's status took a big jump.' she said. 'All nobles must send their best man back then to serve as a Knight to the Queen and that practice remains to this day. Sir Lucario if he ever returns, will be considered a Pokemon Knight and a part of the family.' she said. 'And you are free to go.'

'I see...well, Professor Oak and a bunch of scientists interested in the tree will drop by soon to see the tapes concerning the tree.' said Ash. 'Since I got footage, the scientists are interested again.'

xxx

Soon, Ash left Rota to head for Cerulean City...relying on Pidgeot for directions.

Upon arrival there, Ash immediately challenged the Gym.

The Gym Leader is a girl his age named Misty...whom he quickly defeated with Feebas alone...and that's saying something.

Really, a Staryu and Starmie? Not pretty smart...same moveset to boot.

'Wow, defeated so easily...' Misty deflated on the floor. 'With a butt-ugly fish no less.'

'...your mistake is using a Pokemon who are from the same family line and did not have much moveset other than the bare basics that it felt like I just fought the same pokemon twice.' said Ash. 'That, and you underestimated Feebas for his looks but he's a tough guy who'll someday become a real beauty.' he said, picking up Feebas and patting him. 'Afterall, like Magikarp, Feebas can survive anywhere. Had you used different pokemon you could have given him a better fight.'

'My sisters are hogging all the good ones for their water ballet shows, I can't help it!' Misty grumbled. 'If only I can travel for my own pokemon, I would have done that by now!'

'Then why not leave?'

'I had a bad run in with Beedrill.' Misty sighed. 'I can't travel alone.'

'Then come with me to catch yourself a good team.' Ash suggested. 'Although it might take a while since my sense of direction is no good...I ended up in Terracotta Town and Sable City before I reached Pewter and then I ended up in Rota before I had my Pidgeot fly me here.'

Misty balked horribly at that.

'S-seriously that bad?'

'I'm afraid so.' Ash laughed. 'So you better have a long line of patience if you're OK with traveling with me!' he said as he took out his Pokeball but Feebas glowed...and became a Milotic. A serpentine pokemon with a primarily cream-colored body. It has red eyes with long, pinkish antennae above them. Additionally, there are long, hair-like fins above its eyes, which begin thin and thicken towards the tips. On top of its relatively small head is a straight spike. Running down either side of its neck are three black dots, similar to gills. Its lower body is a patterning of blue and pink, diamond-shaped scales outlined with black. The tail consists of four large, blue fins with pink ovals in their centers. 'See what I mean when I said he'll be a real beauty?' he grinned. 'This beautiful fella is Milotic. Feebas' final form.'

'W-wha...he's gorgeous!' Misty gushed out at the beautiful pokemon. 'Where'd you get him?!' she moaned in total envy.

'Well, he's a native of Hoenn and Sinnoh but apparently he wandered too far into Kanto...and I caught him in Terracotta Town.' Ash chuckled, patting Milotic. 'For Feebas to become Milotic, they must sense your sincere feelings that someday, they'll become beautiful after being scorned by so many people as a Feebas for so long. I guess you can say they evolve based on their trainer's sincere feelings of confidence.'

'Oh...'

'Well Milotic, we'll be on a training camp. You can learn more as you are now compared to when you were a Feebas.' said Ash, patting him. 'You can now catch up to the others!' Milotic nodded jovially. 'We'll hide in this city for now.'

'Hide? Why hide?' Misty frowned.

Ash looked at her grimly.

'Milotic is the most beautiful water Pokemon Misty.' said Ash seriously. 'And most people who wanted one have no patience with Feebas...and these people are often rich people. Guess what they do to get a Milotic? Either its poached in the wild, or stolen from Trainers!' he said to their horror. 'That's why I need to train Milotic real hard.'

'Oh my god...'


	5. Battle Factory Noland

Battle Factory Noland

Ash stayed in Cerulean City's Pokemon Center, while training hard in the forests' rivers with Misty watching.

As a Feebas, Milotic knew Water Gun, Scald, Brine, Water Pulse and Iron tail. Upon becoming a Milotic, Ash asked him to show him what moves he may have accessed.

Milotic demonstrated Wrap and Disarming Voice.

Ash thought, "Yikes."

'Alright Milotic, I got a long list for you to learn!' said Ash. 'We're staying for two weeks! Like with Pidgeot, one move per day unless you master some within hours!' he told him.

'That means its a total of fourteen moves in two weeks if it takes him a day to master a move.' Misty mused.

'Yeah but he can do more but right now after that, we'll focus on finding and training more friends, Misty.' said Ash. 'Because we'll be fighting in the Indigo Conference this year.' he said as he took out three notebooks. Normal, Water, and Fairy.

Ash started with Normal moves first.

Misty was impressed with how far Ash would go as after that, Milotic is made to spar with his teammates to learn how to effectively use his newly-learned moves. And during the night, Milotic is to train his stamina and endurance by swimming upwards the waterfalls while fighting the currents in those same two weeks.

In the meantime, during those two weeks...

Pidgeot was made to train his stamina by flapping his wings...while weighted down by a rock tied to him through a rope. Butterfree trains by strengthening his attacks and overcoming his limits, and Sliggoo was putting more and more power in his moves, as he learned more.

Misty learned that Ash got Sliggoo as a Goomy from Professor Oak's friend when he woke up late to get his Starter. Goomy is known as the weakest Dragon Pokemon but Ash disagreed...and made a great fighter out of him that he evolved to Sliggoo in Rota's tournaments. But as his most experienced fighter if it rains, Sliggoo will become Goodra any day now. Sliggoo needed natural rain to become Goodra. But Ash wanted him to learn more before he does. With good reason.

Goodra _is a Pseudo-Legendary Pokemon from Kalos_.

His case is similar to Milotic's. Nobody has enough patience to raise a Goomy!

xxx

Up in the countryside...

'So what kinda Water Pokemon do you want to catch Misty?' Ash asked her. 'Going after Pure Types is OK but sometimes Dual-Types help you better.'

'Yeah but where to find good ones anyway?' Misty sighed. 'As a fighter I need to find really good ones.'

'Humm...searching the internet would help you when we get to the next town...wherever heck it is...' said Ash. 'Like I said, my direction is no good, so we'll get lost a lot...'

'...gimme the map.' Misty grunted, not really wanting to get lost. Unlike him, she needed a shower once a day, thank you!

Ash laughingly gave her the map and Misty huffed.

Needless to say, Misty took point, and needless to say she hasn't got much stamina...

'Pidgeot, can you get us to the nearest shelter? Go find one by looking around.' Ash told his Pokemon who soared off. 'Well, we wait.' Ash grinned as Misty...was super tired. 'You really should exercise...'

'I'm a swimmer, not a walker.' Misty huffed in exhaustion. 'And what about you? You're just the same as me!'

'Well, getting lost a lot in the mountains where there's thinner air improved my stamina you know.' said Ash. 'So I'm a bit physically better off. There's always positive sides in problems.' he shrugged. 'So I take it like how I see it.'

Soon, Pidgeot was back...and he led them to a...factory?

And so...

'Well, I suppose I can let you kids stay for a bit.' said Noland, the man who owns the factory. 'Its pretty late at night, too and seriously, only one of you has a tent and none of you have a Fire pokemon?' he twitched. Camp life is pure misery without a water and fire type!

'Mine was inspired on Interpol Equipment, it can only be one-man occupation.' Ash shrugged. 'And Misty...well...' he glanced at his companion. 'Beedrill paranoia.'

'I'd show you why if only I wouldn't get arrested for public indecency for it.' Misty sighed. 'But I got stabbed in the back...' the two males winced.

'That explains it.' Noland sighed. 'Well you kids can stay over. And not all kids are lucky in their journeys. Some quit due to misfortune and experience trauma that put them off traveling forever. In fact, going past Cerulean City is practically a rite of passage.'

'So where are we now Noland?'

'Well, in my Battle Factory within Mt. Moon range.' said Noland with a grin. 'Cerulean City is just up ahead.'

'Huh?!'

'D-don't you mean Vermillion?' Misty stammered out, wide-eyed fearing the dreaded fact that they got lost. Noland gave them a pointed stare.

'East of here is Cerulean and south of Cerulean is Vermillion.'

'AAAAGH! WE TOOK THE WRONG EXIT!' Misty freaked out. 'We just came from Cerulean City!' Noland sweatdropped.

'...I DID warn you that my sense of direction is bad...' Ash laughed jovially and shamelessly. 'But somehow one way or another I get to where I wanna go anyway!'

Noland doubled his sweatdrops.

'Oh shuddup Ash!' Misty fumed before sighing in exhaustion and defeat. 'Man I'm pooped.'

'Well, I'll get started on dinner shall I?' said Ash. 'Noland, can I borrow your kitchen.'

'Er you're good enough not to burn anything, right?' Noland asked him warily. Ash snorted.

'Mom runs a restaurant. Of course I can cook! She practically drilled it in my head!'

'If you're sure...' Noland is still wary with good reason.

Really, a kid in his kitchen? Yikes...

xxx

Indeed, Ash CAN cook and clearly knew what he's doing when he watched the boy work.

He's experienced with knives...and made Pokemon Food first(he said so), before making human dinner. Beef Bourguignon with boiled potatoes, Soft-boiled Eggs, and meatballs in vegetable stock with sliced leeks and spices.

'See? I can cook!' said Ash smugly.

'Yeah yeah you proved your point.' said Noland wryly. 'And your lady friend sure is taking time in the showers.'

'Well, she said she can't stand letting a day go without a shower once.' Ash snorted. 'I wonder if its occurred that showers are rare while traveling on foot...cities and towns aren't always within a day's reach unless you own a car or a plane. Kanto's a big place.'

'Ain't that the truth.' Noland laughed as Ash placed dinner down on the ground...for his pokemon. Ash then took out his pokemon and Noland raised an eyebrow. While Pidgeot and Butterfree are pretty native...

'Two of them sure are unusually foreign.' he said, eyeing the Sliggoo and Milotic.

'I got Goomy from Professor Oak from a friend. Wouldn't say why he sent it over but I'm not complaining, I woke up late and I missed getting traditional starters!' Noland gaped at him. '...he became a Sliggoo back at Rota's Hero of the Year tournament.' said Ash. 'But if it rains, he would become Goodra quickly because the battles greatly helped his growth. Sliggoo is too strong the way he is now so he'll balance back when he evolves again. As for Milotic...he got lost into Kanto as a Feebas...and I caught him at Terracotta Town. I heard he's native elsewhere...'

'Well, you lucked out in two ways kid but its a pretty double-edged luck.' Noland told him seriously as Ash sighed.

'I know. Poacher Target.' he said gloomily. 'I want to fight someone stronger than me once in a while so I'd know how I'd fare against ruthless poachers who play dirty. I don't want Sliggoo or Milotic taken from me.' he scowled. 'I raised them both and I'll be damned if they're poached from me for lazy rich people as trophies!'

Noland's eyes glinted.

'A serious battle eh...?' he said as he sounded serious with his face looking down. 'How about after dinner cuz' you're looking at him right now.'

'Eh?'

Noland decided not to tell Ash a few things yet.

For now, he's just a trainer in a factory.

'Well, I got a few years under my belt kid.' he said. 'So shall we have a test after dinner?'

'Gee, thanks Noland!' Ash beamed. 'I could really use a serious fight. I have to know where I lack to protect them better by training them better.'

Noland chuckled as he watched Ash talk to his pokemon about the upcoming spar. To 'test their fighting ability as a team' as preparation for battle against poachers and he is very close to all his pokemon. Affectionate even particularly Sliggoo who tackled him and began nibbling his ear...

'Not my ears Sliggoo! I'm sensi-aaaahhhnnn...' Noland spat his drink. _What **kid** makes **that** noise_?!

Tough for the kid.

No-good sense of direction and now something _particularly embarrassing_...

Perhaps by giving him a Goomy as a starter and knowing what becomes of it, it must have made the boy mature faster. Faster than any trainer who would have been given traditional starters, and he took being a Trainer seriously.

He has a phone call to make.

xxx

Professor Oak wondered how popular is Ash going to get.

First the Queen and now one of the Frontier Brains?!

'I'm surprised to get a call from a Frontier Brain Noland.' said Professor Oak. 'One of my students is getting super-popular with an exceptional crowd lately.'

/That kid got me interested as a fellow trainer./ said Noland. /Do you have any idea what became of that kid when you gave him that Goomy?/

'Yes. I gave him Goomy intentionally even though I intended a Pikachu. He practically met all of my expectations in this gamble and did more.' Professor Oak smirked. 'Ash...he has a good, big heart. And you know a Goomy's reputation...yet he swore to bulldoze away that reputation for Goomy's sake and made an incredible battler out of him. Why I got videos of the Rota's yearly Hero of the Year Tournament I asked off of Queen Ilene. You wouldn't believe a Goomy took down an Aggron before becoming Sliggoo.' he said, shaking his head. 'Goomy was so touched by his passionate words of promise he practically cried on his shoulder and they're quick to become best friends.' he grinned. 'And it also made him realize that the world beyond our town...is not kind.' he said somberly.

'But what matters is, he learned wisdom early on.' said Professor Oak. 'Wisdom. Frugality. Humility. Positivity. He would become great. How is he now though?'

/Well, he's a Trainer who reached Cerulean City as 'Rite of Passage' but with his terrible sense of direction, he wound up going backwards. Good thing they found my Factory or they'll never know that!/ Noland laughed. /Well, Misty will be the one taking point in directions. Ash is just plain shameless about it and is perfectly fine with getting lost if it meant finding opportunities he'd otherwise miss if he did standard procedures. Good thinking but impractical as stuff in bags won't last forever./ he said wryly. /He sees getting lost as finding opportunities ever since getting that Milotic.../

'And he ended up in Rota and became Hero of the Year as he bulldozed trainers older than him with type disadvantage to boot.' said Professor Oak wryly. 'And did Rota a great service for their Historians, and meeting Mew, a legendary pokemon yet he never bothered catching it because it protects Rota. He also has an opportunity to learn how to be an Aura Guardian but he temporarily put it to a halt because the only available teacher is in mourning he felt it would be a bad time to ask.'

/...spill./

xxx

'Woooow! You really cooked this?!' Misty drooled as she saw her dinner after coming out of the showers.

'Mom is Head Chef in our family restaurant you know. Of course I'd know how to cook.' Ash snorted. 'Anyway, what do Staryu and Starmie eat anyway?'

'Er...they never eat Ash.' said Misty. 'But they do often sunbathe and that's pretty much it...'

Misty learned what a great cook he is as everything about the beef is delicious with a tender melt-in-the-mouth steak to match going well with its sauce, and the vegetable soup is just wonderful that the eggs felt like _dessert_.

But while enjoying dinner, she demanded Ash teach her as her sisters are utter disasters...and they've been living off of takeouts for years, all they could do is _reheat_ in the microwave if there are leftovers.

'TAKEOUTS FOR YEARS?!' Ash gasped out, scandalized in utter horror. 'Gourmet food is still the best, reheated takeouts are just bleeeech!' he looked utterly disgusted. As someone who has a gourmet chef for a mother raised with her delicious cooking, this is utter sacrilege for him. 'That's it, you're getting drilled in basics for a week every month from now on!'

'Basics?'

'Ingredient preparation, ingredient treatment, handling knives, seasoning and condiments 101, full knowledge about fruits and berries, veggies, seafood and meat and basic cooking techniques...those are culinary basics before a chef can even think of making a dish.' Ash lectured her. 'And we're starting tomorrow in Cerulean City when we get back and rent one of those Public Kitchens for Trainers...oh, and you are to drink MooMoo milk from now on if you don't like to have muscles just to have the strength to cut foodstuff with a knife.'

'What's that got to do with it?' Misty sweatdropped.

'Everything.' Ash smirked. 'MooMoo milk by Miltank makes bones strong than typical generic powder milk sold in stores. Women who want to be physically strong yet don't want to look ugly with muscles beyond femining body trimming/sculpting workouts drink milk. Its us guys who go to the Gym for manly points.' he said. 'And as we travel, we get stronger waist-down and gain stamina. But its our waist-up that's neglected the most as we travel. Few trainers bother training themselves in full unless you work for the law.'


	6. Pikachu's Decision

Pikachu's Decision

Ash got his match with Noland...and the guy mostly had Hoenn pokemon, being a Hoenn Frontier Brain yet all of them are stationed in Kanto.

Misty watched as the two males went to have a serious four-on-four fight with Ash having trouble with Noland and even then, he's a really good fighter who really gave his all...but still lost.

'You need about ten more fights with me to get real good Ash. Your level isn't so bad as you are now despite being a rookie, proof that you studied hard for the sake of Sliggoo and Milotic.' said Noland. 'But for now come and see me again after the Pokemon League. 'Traveling all over Kanto takes a long while to collect eight badges and with training, everything will take a year for the Indigo League and you barely have a set with you. You only have four pokemon with you!'

'Oh...I guess so...' Ash scratched his head. 'I guess it'll be a while before I'm back here for training.'

'But at least you can deal with low to mid-class poachers and you have pretty powerful techniques in your arsenal...and you're very versatile and resourceful unlike them. You're a true fighter with your team while all they know are textbook methods.' said Noland. 'That's your advantage. Just improve the power levels, stamina and endurance of your pokemon to have that extra punch incase you have the misfortune of coming across skilled poachers.'

'Yessir.' said Ash, clearly gaining confidence.

'Wow Ash, I didn't know you're that skilled and to think you're just a rookie.' said Misty thoughtfully.

'I studied.' said Ash wryly. 'To protect Sliggoo and Milotic, I have to study to be stronger than any poacher before I can worry about the Pokemon League. Well, you take the lead this time. Hopefully we can catch new friends.' he said.

'I hope so too...with the way I am now, I can't be a good gym leader.' said Misty sulkily. She only has a Staryu and a Starmie and she took Starmie with her on Ash's suggestion for practicality lessons.

'So what kinda water pokemon you want to catch?'

'I'd want a Milotic too but to think its really hard to make them evolve...' said Misty gloomily. 'I'll deal with what I can get. Any recommendations?'

'You're the kind who wants them cute and you're also not a patient person...so Feebas, Slowpoke and Psyduck are out because patience is needed to get a Milotic and a Golduck. The Poliwag line is a creepy one since their swirls are in fact, visible guts unless you use a King's Rock to evolve a Poliwhirl to get a Politoed that's less creepy and their innards are not on display, sure. Horsea is also an option but they're found in oceans more than fresh water and the Azurill line but they're rare in Kanto like Eevees if you want a Vaporeon or a Glaceon. There's Corsola in the beaches or islands in Johto. And the cute ones are in Sinnoh. The Piplup, Clamperl, Buizel, and Finneon lines, an Alomomola from Unova, and the Ducklett and Frillish lines. You'd have to travel a lot to get them.'

'So they're recommendations?' said Misty thoughtfully.

'Yes, they'd be on your shopping list.' said Ash. 'I'd recommend a Wailmer too but unless you find an Ever Stone, it'll become a Wailord and its too big for your gym...say, a small ship?'

Misty had an imagine spot and shivered.

There's no way a Wailord will fit in her Gym!

Upon reaching Cerulean City, they went to the Public Kitchen with Ash teaching Misty about foodstuff such as condiments, grains, vegetables, fruits, berries, meat and seafood before teaching her basic dishes for beginners first, the same thing he knows as he only had two weeks back at Pallet Town after all. They stayed there for a month, and jokingly told Misty she should catch a Chansey as Chansey are everyone's source of eggs, getting free food while on the road would be cool!

Misty playfully hit his head at that as she began to learn to cook from him there.

xxx

En route to Vermillion City, they passed by a Dorm School.

'This place is Pokemon Tech isn't it?' Ash mused as they saw the school.

'Yeah. Kids who can't travel but still wanted to join the Pokemon League go here. But its three years' of school!' Misty pointed out.

'How stupid. They need to travel anyway to catch pokemon they want and pokemon they would want to have live in specific places and habitats unless they're willing to pay fifty grand for a pokemon egg and that's the cheapest while the good to great kinds cost half a mil!'

'Seriously?!'

'Seriously...I asked Professor Oak.' Ash deadpanned. 'Because its difficult to find compatible breeding pairs who are a great match so pokemon eggs are even rarer...since they're only here if the compatibility rate is so great.'

Further into the woods...they met a young woman taking care of a 'village' of heartbroken, abandoned and sick pokemon but Melanie is having problems with funding since Pokemart's prices over pokemon food rose and the pokemon are not yet ready to start a new life, so Ash taught Melanie how to make Poffins, drastically decreasing the amount of money she spends from nearly a hundred grand...to only 5000 judging by the pokemon present. He also taught her how to make Poffin Recipes and to start off with, its a trial and error method to find what they like at first, so only make samples until they find a flavor the pokemon liked which she can then splurge on. Poffins are also healthy, purely organic and more nutritious than the ones sold at pokemart and extremely cheap that made Melanie happy.

'Why not train them all yourself though?' Ash pointed out in the wooden cabin while Misty played with their pokemon outside. 'As you said, their fools for trainers abandoned them, thinking they're weak yet here's a question...did they even train the pokemon they labeled weak?' he deadpanned in sheer disgust. 'Fools for trainers often blame pokemon for their shortcomings when the reality is, they are no good educators and trainers and its these morons who are weak, not the pokemon. Who was it who makes pokemon strong? Us.' he told the older girl. 'Its trainers who teach, and pokemon learn. Pokemon also have feelings and they can also teach us about themselves by expressing themselves.'

'Yes but I'm not a trainer...how on earth and what on earth do I teach them...I'm a Breeder not a Trainer...I learn from my parents.' said Melanie.

'Well, do you have a paper pad and a pen?' Ash grinned. 'I can help you out by writing what I know down.'

And so, Ash wrote down physical training methods for the pokemon in Melanie's care, and upon consulting his Pokedex that had everything put in(on request by Ash to Professor Oak), and how to learn the techniques.

He also wrote down Berries list divided into flavors, and Poffin Recipes Types.

By the time he was done, his hand HURT.

'Well, here's a start Melanie. Getting stronger takes weeks to months, so there's no rush and just let nature take its course. Patience is key and growth should never be rushed.' said Ash, giving Melanie the paper pad while shaking his writing hand. 'Oh, one more thing...as they get stronger, they may end up unlocking Egg Moves that they may have inherited from their parents so watch out for that.'

'Right...thanks for everything Ash.' said Melanie, receiving the pad paper. 'With this, they can get stronger and be able to start new lives and hopefully, get lucky with their next trainer!' she said excitedly.

'Bulba.' Bulbasaur entered the cabin and approached Melanie.

'What is it Bulbasaur?' Melanie asked Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur talked to her while pointing at Ash with his Vine. 'You...want to join him?' Bulbasaur made indications he heard everything and decided to join Ash.

'Really? After everything you went through you can trust another human other than Melanie?' Ash blinked owlishly as Bulbasaur nodded. But he wanted a fight first! 'Alright. A fight it is.' he said. 'As proof that I'm worth my salt!' he grinned.

And so...

'Alright guys, we'll have a new teammate but for that, he wants to see if we're a good team.' Ash told his pokemon. 'Sooo who wants to fight Bulbasaur?'

Ash's pokemon exchanged looks.

 **PokeSpeak**

'Errr who'll fight Bulbasaur?' Butterfree asked his friends. 'Given Pidgeot and my ability to fly, its not fair and Milotic is too big!'

'I'm not big, I'm just long!' Milotic said with an annoyed crosshair. 'But he has a point...this will be too one-sided!'

'I go?' Sliggoo piped up.

'Are you crazy?! You're the strongest out of us since you've been with Ash too long and your training is crazier than ours!' Pidgeot yelped.

'Well, its so I won't get poached by poachers easily if I become Goodra you know...'

'Milotic, you go. Sliggoo's our strongest guy and we're flyers.' suggested Butterfree. 'At least with you it'll be a bit fair even with type disadvantage.'

'Where's the logic in that?!' Sliggoo sweatdropped. Yeah, water-types are weak against grass types but Milotic is fully-trained unlike Bulbasaur!

'Oy! I'm right here you know, don't talk like I'm not here!' Bulbasaur yelled, sporting his own annoyed crosshair. The four pokemon meeped as if caught like a Stantler in taillights.

 **PokeSpeak end**

Milotic went forward, slithering while floating in midair.

'So Milotic wants to go eh?' said Ash, unaware of what his pokemon discussed and the humans were wondering why Bulbasaur yelled at them. 'Alright, we'll begin!' he said as he took to the field, scanning Bulbasaur with his Pokedex. Bulbasaur only knew basic moves of Tackle, Vine Whip, Leech Seed, Razor Leaf, Solar Beam and Sleep Powder.

Too basic and...too textbook on Bulbasaur's part.

And Milotic is very versatile despite Ash's just-as-textbook orders.

From afar...

Pikachu made his decision after weeks of following the boy Professor Oak told him about.

He watched as Ash is genuinely close to his team and how happy they are together, and how he is fussy about caring for them thus they receive the best he could give and as a result, all of them are strong. He's even capable of loving a butt-ugly fish who became a beauty...and Feebas did after hearing and feeling Ash's sincerity that he believed in his beauty!

He made his choice as he appeared to challenge Ash too...and he also lost. Milotic just went purely physical on him, using Coil, Dragon Tail and Tackle. His dodging speed is also fast as he could float and 'swim' in the air. Now Ash has two new members on his team, Bulbasaur and Pikachu, making a team of six.

'Alright, we'll camp here for a bit.' Ash made the decision. 'We need to train our new members to be up to snuff!'

xxx

'Misty...' said Melanie as they made dinner for everyone with Melanie making Poffins while Misty makes dinner. 'What do you know of Ash?'

'Ash? He's hopeless in regards to his directions.' Misty sighed. 'He admitted he gets lost a lot but with luck, finds his way to wherever he wanted to go so I took lead because getting lost in the forest is a really bad idea. But he's a really great guy and all his pokemon love him to bits because he really is a genuinely kind kid and a skilled trainer.' she said. 'He is also highly protective of them and despises poachers, fearing for any encounter should Sliggoo become Goodra and if people see his Milotic.' she sighed. 'Goodra is a pseudo-legendary of Kalos,' Melanie's jaws dropped. '-and Milotic is the world's most beautiful water pokemon...they're incredibly rare and to have a Milotic, you must recognize Feebas' beauty and it feels your sincerity that despite how Feebas looks, you would see their beauty. Pretty difficult as Feebas are really ugly and just as loony as a Magikarp...he has a big heart. Really kind and even taught me how to cook...but I'm at the basics for now though. When he got wind me and my sisters can't cook and live off of takeouts, he was so upset he decided to teach me cooking.'

'He says not only spending money on takeouts is pricier, its also impractical for obvious reasons and home-cooking is still the best food ever he felt we were missing out on something great.' Misty giggled. 'He taught me stuff the way his mom taught him and I never dreamed I can actually cook in my life and cooking is really fun.' she said. 'Maybe with knowing how to cook, he said I can finally get a boyfriend.' she squeaked with a blush.

'So you like Ash?'

'Not that way! He's a friend...I don't feel the 'thump-thump' heartbeat when he's with me so he's not my Mr. Right.' Misty sighed. 'And I think he feels the same we're more like siblings.' she pointed out. 'Besides, I got a feeling that its not gonna be a girl he'll be with...' she said with a mischievous blush.

Melanie blinked.

'Ash is very sensitive in the ears...'

'...what's that got to do with your theory...?'


	7. Training

Training

Into their travels...Ash helped Misty train her Starmie into a better, effective fighter...especially as Starmie knows Harden. Combining it with Rapid Spin and Scald, it would deal quite the pain packer while learning still more moves and Misty didn't know Starmie are quite capable of Recover, Swift, and Flash. And Bulbasaur is trained hard in Melanie's sanctuary with Melanie training the other pokemon(but she had to use the TMs in Ash's possession on Magikarp) as well under Ash's guidance before moving on their way.

In their journey, they encountered a weakened Charmander that was sitting on a rock...apparently for days judging by the flame on its tail. Very small, feeble flame that Ash fed it Berry soups mostly made of Oran, Sitrus and Leppa berries until he was full as solids on a starving human or pokemon will just make them puke it back up...and when it rained, trouble occurred!

'Milotic, use Ice Beam and create a nice icy shelter for all of us!' Ash barked frantically as he released Sliggoo. 'Because of the rain, maintain the stability of the shelter to protect Charmander's tail flame!' Milotic obeyed his orders and they waited out the rain. 'Sliggoo, take advantage of the rain to become Goodra!'

'Sliggoo!' Sliggoo glowed in the light of evolution and when the downpour began, he morphed into Goodra and he definitely enjoyed the rain, soaking up as much water as he could. He's also the last of the original four to evolve.

'...good thing for Ice Beam.' Misty shuddered. 'Or we'd be soaked to the bone and poor Charmander!'

'I'll say...poor all of us.' said Ash with a chuckle. 'But one of us benefited real well!' he said as Sliggoo became Goodra. Misty thought Goodra would have been cute and cuddly if only he's not slimy! 'Congratulations Goodra!' Ash grinned as Goodra looked very happy and cuddled his trainer.

Charmander watched the pair...and looked rather jealous. Something Pikachu noted and he conversed with him...and learned a lot from Charmander.

A pissed-off Pikachu gave him a talking-to.

'Pikachu?!' Ash and Misty's eyebrows raised as Pikachu nagged at Charmander...and both Goodra and Milotic agreed with him. 'Guys, what's going on?!'

Milotic wrote on the ground using Ice Beam revealing Charmander's story and exactly what Pikachu told him that they agreed with. Pikachu feels that Charmander's trainer is a total pointlessly cruel jackass and an incompetent trainer who blames his faults on Charmander, and Pikachu suspected Charmander's abandonment as a result.

'I see...I knew Damian...I was classmates with him back at Viridian's Pokemon School!' Ash growled with a shaking fist. 'He's a total braggart and bully I was just lucky to avoid his radar and he's in another classroom but a lot of kids don't like him much...to do this to a Charmander...' he took out a notebook, wrote down a report, and summoned Pidgeot. 'Pidgeot! Take this to the nearest Pokemon Center to a Nurse Joy, wait for her to finish reading my report and lead her back here to us! We have a medical emergency!' he cried as he tied the letter securely to Pidgeot's leg, and Pidgeot took off as fast as he could.

'Charmander's feeling loads better now Ash.' said Misty, noting that there's a bit of increase in Charmander's tail flame.

'But not good enough...with that size of tail flame he wouldn't last a month.' said Ash grimly to their horror. 'Energy Soups can only do so little bit at least it can make a difference between life and death.' he said. 'So I'll keep it up until that flame is a little bigger compared to the teenie-weenie from earlier. He's still weak from starvation.'

Soon, an ambulance came in an hour...with an Officer Jenny.

'Where is the Charmander?!' Officer Jenny demanded when she saw the trainers in a campfire with Charmander in question drinking fruity-smelling soup.

'Oh, here he is eating soup Ash made for him.' said Misty as Ash was cleaning up his pot with Milotic's help from afar. 'Since he's starved and dehydrated for several days judging by the size of his tail flame, he can't eat solids for now.'

'Come on dear, inside now.' Nurse Joy coaxed Charmander into the stretcher gently with some Chanseys as they took Charmander into the ambulance. Its clear that he is still too weak judging by how he moved.

'Will he be OK Officer?' Ash frowned as Officer Jenny sighed.

'That depends on what Nurse Joy sees in him other than a weakened tail flame kids.' she said sadly. 'By the way, what is that soup made of just incase to be documented?'

'Oh, it's my special Energy Soup made out of Honey, Oran, Sitrus and Leppa berries.' said Ash. 'It works well for training my team and its homemade medicine too not just a drink, and I have several bottles on me in my bag.' he said, giving Officer Jenny a bottle.

'Well, you kids better come along.' she said. 'Your report reached my department and we're now looking for Damian Shields based on database in Viridian City's schools since you only knew him as a schoolmate and from asking Professor Oak on who got the other starters.' Officer Jenny informed him. 'But to be sure we're using a Psychic Pokemon on his memories as final proof before we can have authority to revoke his license. Depending on what Nurse Joy finds depends on what the verdict will be. In all regions.'

'All regions?!' Misty squawked out.

'Yes Misty. All regions.' said Officer Jenny. 'The Pokemon Association in Goldenrod City in Johto will take note of this case as well. You kids better be at the Pokemon Center Lodge which is three hours away from here on foot!' she said as she rode away in her motorcycle.

'We better pack up and go...those three hours start now unfortunately.' Misty grumbled as they packed up. 'So much for having lunch!' she complained.

'It can't be helped...we're involved in a case you know.' said Ash. 'My first time getting into this kinda trouble and I think there'd be more someday...'

'Yikes.'

xxx

3 hours later...

'So here's the lodge.' said Misty as their eyes fell on the Pokemon Center, wooden lodge style.

'Well, it'll be one late lunch.' Ash snorted. 'Let's ask if we can borrow the kitchens to make Poffins. I don't want to spend money on expensive servings of junk.'

Upon gaining permission from a Chansey, Ash and Misty went to the kitchens where he asked for a space to cook pokemon food by a stockpile while Misty went to get them a table and buy food for them. Soon, upon making a pile of Poffins, Ash got the dishbowls out, poured the Poffins on them, and began making Butterfree's food. Soon, the pokemon ate their food IN the kitchen.

xxx

'Wow, looks like we both just got here.' said Ash as he just got to the cafeteria with Pikachu on his shoulder while Misty carried a tray of food.

'Well, the lines are long.' Misty grumbled. 'So many people in here too.'

The pair had their lunch while Pikachu discovered that he likes ketchup and began licking it off the bottle. Ash has also talked to Professor Oak about the situation and told him to wait as the authorities will give the verdict and he and Misty are witnesses so they can't leave just yet.

'Erm...in the meantime, can mom send me some berry supplies over here? This place doesn't sell anything...' Ash sweatdropped. 'Perhaps we can ask the authorities for help since Misty and I are running out of stuff for Pokemon Food...'

/Ahaha, right right...so what's the list?/

Ash told him his berry, honey and herb shopping list, a new bottle of toothpaste and a new toothbrush, as well as asking Misty what she would need...her needs of course, will be charged to her sisters. Misty asked for feminine needs, one of which got the old professor blushing darkly.

All they have to do now...is wait.

Several days later...

They got their supplies, getting interviewed about the pokemon in question, and overseeing Charmander's progress in the lodge and getting Nurse Joy's statement as well. And his case is severe but with Ash's medicines and several weeks of healthy food, his recovery will go smoothly. A few more energy drinks after getting his digestive system healed and he's all good.

Soon, the verdict is placed.

'The Association has decided that Damian Shields' license is revoked and voided. That he can never be trusted with a pokemon ever again.' said the agent after a phone call. 'He is found in Vermillion City a few days ago winning a Thunder Badge off Lt. Surge when we made the arrest.' he said. 'And Charmander's pokeball will be sent here soon with his custody awarded to you.'

With that, the agents left.

'Well, that's that.' said Ash with a sigh. 'He's one of us now.' he said. 'The question is, will he have us after this? His trust in humans is probably a bit shaky now...'

'Asking never hurt you know.' said Misty. 'If he joins you, you now have a team of six!'

'That's true...' by next day, Charmander is declared all better. Ash told Charmander what's happened in the past few days and offered that he join him.

Charmander, remembering that Ash is very much well-loved by his pokemon and hoping he too, would be well-cared for and highly spoken of by his pokemon, joined his team.

Weeks later, Vermillion City...

Training and things happened, with a Squirtle joining Misty...with Ash helping Misty out in instructions which she puts to practice to gain Squirtle's respect while Ash trained Bulbasaur, Charmander and Pikachu hard after sending home Goodra to Professor Oak and took back Charmander who was automatically transported home. So Charmander is started on Easy Training at first while walking with them in their travels with the other pokemon as a form of stamina training, and camping to learn new moves, and mastering them to the point of being able to use them with great power without getting exhausted too quickly, and were taught versatile ways to use each skill, and fed plenty of Poffins till they're stuffed.

Soon, Charmander grew stronger than he ever did in Damian's 'care'. He knew plenty of moves, ways to use them and use them quickly as well as moving quickly, and his tail flame reflected his growth under a good trainer who treated them kindly and with respect...while still being a strict trainer who valued hard work and effort, and battled wild pokemon around the routes closest to Vermillion City for Pikachu, Bulbasaur and Charmander to gain fighting experience at least.

However, sometime later he had to say goodbye to Butterfree due to mating season. At least his Butterfree managed to attract the pink one he aimed for!

It woulda gone well if only it wasn't for Team Rocket coming to catch all the released Butterfree!

'Ash, we got poachers!' Misty exclaimed. 'What are we going to do?!'

'We go ruthless of course, and make an example!' said Ash coolly as he took out Pidgeot. 'Pikachu, ride on Pidgeot's back...you two will work together.' he instructed. 'Pidgeot, first drop Pikachu on a secure location above the helicopter where he won't fall. Then together with our Butterfree, use Air Slash on the giant net after you use steel wing on the handle and break the net away. And once the net of Butterfree is no longer connected, Pikachu give it all you got in Thundershock.' he instructed. 'Spare no expense!'

'Pika!'

'Geot!' and they took off to the skies.

'Er Ash...what if there's other stolen pokemon in that helicopter?' Misty pointed out nervously. Ash's eyes then analyzed the helicopter.

'Unlikely...they're targeting Butterfree right now and that many in their nets will be filling up the whole cramped space like packed sardines.' said Ash. 'Unhealthily at that.' he said as his pokemon did damage control...and good damage once all Butterfrees are freed...and when the helicopter blew up, Pikachu jumped away to lessen damage on himself and caught by Pidgeot.

And so...

'So this is your mate eh?' said Ash as he took out a camera and took a photo of them together. 'Teach her well like how I taught you so you have no fear of Poachers, OK Butterfree?' Ash told his Butterfree who nodded as he released Butterfree from his pokeball. 'Before you two go, I'll take back Goodra so he can say goodbye too.'

'Freeee!' together, they went to the Pokemon Center to the Videophone.

'Professor, is Goodra there?' Ash asked him.

/Of course Ash, I'm still studying his unusual biology so he's cooperating with me right now./ said Professor Oak. /Need him for a match?/

'Er no. Butterfree is getting married and soon to go on a honeymoon I thought he should say goodbye to everyone properly.' Ash suggested. Professor Oak blinked before smiling.

/Alright. I'll send him over. You're in the Butterfree Release Zone in that town right? He'll be there in a jiffy so inform Nurse Joy! Her machine might be off and we can't have that!/

'Right...' upon informing Nurse Joy that his pokemon will arrive, she turned it on and gave Professor Oak the 'go'. Soon, Goodra came...and Goodra was in utter waterworks compared to the other pokemon who wished their teammate well in married bliss.

xxx

'Well, Goodra didn't take too well to Butterfree leaving...' said Misty as Goodra went back to Professor Oak in tears with Nurse Joy touched by the scene.

'Well, they're teammates for so long and it in his kind's nature to be affectionate to anybody his kind cares for.' Ash sighed while sad that his pokemon left home. 'I don't want him to go too but hey, he found a girlfriend that likes him and that's rare! Liked at first meetings!' he exclaimed before sighing. 'Am I gonna get as lucky though~'


	8. Eggy Disaster and Misunderstanding

Eggy Disaster and Misunderstanding

Misty has witnessed how hard Ash studied based on how he trains his pokemon. This made her pursue to train her own team harder.

He has two out of three Kanto starters, a Milotic, Goodra, Pikachu and Pidgeot.

If there's one thing in common, all pokemon are trained to be good in dodging and quick on their feet as much as they possibly can do with their physiology.

Bulbasaur is clearly raised to be able to move faster than what his species could do, and utilizing their build fit for defense, and Bulbasaur knows mostly Normal and Grass-Type techniques to make use of his natural assets while powering himself up. He could use Synthesis, Leech Seed, Energy Ball, Vine Whip, Leaf Storm, Growth, Seed Bomb, Solar Beam, Tackle, and Bide. His ability is Overgrow though Ash wished he had Chlorophyll instead, so now he is training Bulbasaur to be fast on his feet without it. He is also trained to be able to gather energy quickly for his Solar Beam.

Charmander's ability is Solar Power, meaning Charmander can keep going and going as long as the sun is out, with Misty remarking Damian was a total know-nothing idiot when Ash explained what Solar Power can do in simple terms. He learned Flamethrower, Fire Spin, Tackle, Body Slam, Smokescreen, Dragon Rage, Dragon Claw, Inferno, Sunny Day, Ember, Bide, and Iron Tail.

Pidgeot whose ability is Keen Eye knows only powerful moves after its original moveset prior to Ash finding him. His original moves are Gust, Quick, Wing and Sand Attacks, Whirlwind and Double Edge, Ash taught him Roost, Acrobatics, Aerial Ace, Air Cutter and Slash...and trained his wings hard to improve the strength of his wings, and improve his flying ability maneuvers so despite flying fast, Pidgeot can easily turn in any direction without losing speed.

Milotic, having learned moves from TMs learned Ice Beam, Blizzard, Hail, Bind, Flail, Aqua Tail, Hydro Pump, Rain Dance, Surf, Whirlpool, and Water Sport. Its ability is Cute Charm...which is self-explanatory. Milotic was sent home with Goodra and Pidgeot to train.

Goodra's ability is Sap Sipper and Hydration. Gooey is also his ability but due to Goodra's physiology, he's born with it. Goodra is Ash's strongest pokemon because unlike his other pokemon, Goodra has all three available to him like he was a born winner out of his kind which is very rare and can only be gained by Breeding(and be the lucky one to be born with it). Prior moves taught to him as a Goomy aside, Goodra learned Dragon Pulse, Power Whip, Tackle, Body Slam, Outrage, Ice Beam and Aqua Tail. Because Professor Oak asked to study Goodra, Goodra trains in the Corral under Ash's instructions.

Pikachu, one of the newcomers has Lightning Rod and has his own abilities prior to joining Ash, he learned Dig, Light Screen, Wild Charge, Double-Hit, Pound and Iron Tail. He was also subject to physical training as his species are...physically-frail.

Now, Ash has his three newcomers with him only.

'So what do you plan on catching next since you sent your three strongest home?' Misty asked Ash as his newcomers walked with them as they left the Butterfree Zone a week after Butterfree was released in order for everyone to learn new moves before the more senior members are sent home.

'Well...I want one of each type.' said Ash. 'I already got a Grass, Fire, Water, Electric, Flying and Dragon Type while my Bug Type went to get married I have to catch a new Bug-Type soon...a Normal, hopefully I can get a Psychic, maybe a Fighting would be good too...I dunno.'

'...dunno?' Misty sweatdropped.

'Well we'll cross that bridge later.' said Ash cheerfully, causing his three pokemon to sweatdrop.

xxx

Vermillion City...

Ash and Misty suffered two eggs bonking them on the head when it fell from the sky, alarming Pikachu who was on Ash's shoulder as the mouse pokemon hated to be in a pokeball.

'OWWWW!'

'T-that hurt...' Misty whimpered as both felt somewhat stunned and disoriented from the hit.

'...eggs?' Ash croaked out. 'From the Sky?'

'But that's nonsense unless delivery planes about egg transports have a faulty or improperly-locked hatches and started raining eggs...' Misty groaned out. 'How about we take the eggs to Nurse Joy before we get ourselves fixed because walking around with a concussion is bad?'

'Hopefully the Pokemon Center is nearby though...I don't feel so good.' Ash complained as he took out a notepad, wrote something and gave a piece of it to Pikachu. 'Pikachu, go get Nurse Joy asap.' he instructed.

'Pika!' Pikachu took the paper and ran into the city. It took him a while to reach the Pokemon Center that was swamped with injured pokemon.

'Pipipi!' Pikachu called out to Nurse Joy as it jumped onto her desk and gave her the paper.

'Oh my, I wonder who's it from?' she wondered as she opened the paper with shaky, clearly-rushed handwriting.

 _Unknown Pokemon Eggs fell on our heads real hard from the sky._

 _Concussion, barely conscious. We can't risk walking like this._

 _Please come for possible trauma on eggs and help for us too._

 _We're at the North Vermilion Entrance leading to Cerulean._

'Oh my!'

And so...Ash and Misty are found unconscious on the roadside with the eggs and Pikachu freaked out as the paramedics took the Trainers in, treated for their injury on the spot while Nurse Joy who came along made sure the eggs are looked after and they slept off their concussion. However, they dreamed.

The eggs were from a Breeder that specializes in breeding Piplup and Combee. They were sitting nicely on baskets but the plane shook a bit from a Fearow attack, judging by alarmed screams of the pilots and the two eggs fell off the baskets, rolling towards the hole Fearow made. The horrified Breeder failed to catch the eggs on time as they fell off...and the fall down below was really super scary...and then they fell on the heads of two humans, saving them from a nasty end of going splat on the ground but still hurt from hitting hard human heads at least...

The humans, injured from the concussion put their aching selves on their laps while shaken from their head injuries so the eggs felt somewhat comfortable while hurting.

Ash and Misty woke at the same time in their assigned rooms.

'...what a dream.' they both mused as Pikachu glanced at Ash.

'Pika?'

'I have a really weird dream Pikachu.' said Ash groggily as he told his dream to Pikachu.

'Pi?!'

'Unbelievable, right?' Ash grinned weakly. 'Well I feel a bit better now.' he said as he slowly got up. 'Let's go see Misty if she's awake.' they asked the receptionist for Misty's room. He had to describe her.

'Oh? That Jane Doe? _Finally_ we have a name.' the Nurse sighed. 'You're the only one with an Identification Mr. Ketchum. Injured people with no form of ID on them tend to be called John or Jane Doe in any hospital and then assigned a number so we don't get confused. She's currently Jane#13.' she said flatly. Ash and Pikachu sweatdropped. 'Really, some people forget how important IDs are!' she huffed. 'Misty is it? Any last name?' she asked him kindly.

'She never told me but she's one of Cerulean City's Gym Leaders.'

'Oh, _now_ I know! Gym Leaders are famous!' the Nurse happily updated information. 'She's in Room 309.'

'Thanks.' said Ash gratefully as he went to visit Misty's room.

'Oh, hey Ash.' Misty greeted, her hair down considering she wore bandages on her head so that side-tail really has to go. 'I have a really weird dream about the eggs. Poor things.' Ash stiffened. 'The plane they were on got attacked by a Fearow, damaging the plane enough to have a small hole...'

'Two eggs fell off the shaken baskets, rolled down the hole...' Ash continued as Misty stared at him in shock. 'And bonked us on the head while the eggs are scared out of their wits. They nearly died if not for us.'

'Same dream?!' Misty gawked out, wide-eyed as she had the exact same dream.

'Yeah. I'm of the mind to call Professor Oak about this.' said Ash. 'You well enough to go?'

'Yeah.'

xxx

Pokemon Center...while Misty asked about the eggs, Ash phoned Professor Oak about what happened.

/I see...sometimes, that DOES happen albeit rarely from people who were once in the same situation as you. Pokemon in severe distress can cause telepathic connection to communicate out their distress for help but that's if they're spiritually and mentally powerful enough without having to be a psychic according to studies of other Professors./ Professor Oak told him. /A Plane moving shipments of Combee and Piplup eggs got attacked by a Fearow above Vermillion area eh? I'll look into news about that. You should phone your mother as hospitals DO phone home if relatives had accidents./

'Y-yikes...she's probably beside herself by now.' Ash gulped.

And he wasn't kidding when he phoned his mother who was wailing frantically because she got a phone call about her son who got a concussion. It took a while to placate his mother by telling her how it happened.

/I see...so you're now in the Pokemon Center to ask about the eggs?/

'Yeah mom. Professor Oak definitely says they'll be traumatized and have something against Fearow for life for sure.' said Ash wryly. 'That's the name of the threat they heard when the pilots and the Breeder panicked. And we don't know what happened to the plane or the rest of the eggs...I just hope they got down alright, not...ulp...' he gulped. His mother also shuddered. 'If the bad thing happened, only two survivors are here now.'

/I hope not Ash, that would be terrible./ Delia choked out. /Are you really OK now dear? 100%?/ she asked fretfully.

'I'm OK now after a long nap.' Ash promised her. 'I'm worried about the eggs more than myself you know. I'm resilient they're not.' his mother groaned.

/Only you Ash, only you.../ she said in resigned exasperation.

xxx

'Nurse Joy says the eggs are OK.' said Misty as she sat with him. 'They were hurt, but she fixed them just fine.'

'That's good. Well, now what? Did the Police say anything?' Ash asked her.

'They're looking for planes that possibly dropped the eggs on us.' said Misty. 'I'm not sure if Nurse Joy will believe our dreams so I didn't say anything.'

'Oh...'

'So, you up for a Gym Battle Ash?' Misty piped up. 'I hear Lt. Surge is a specialist in hard blows and immensely powerful attacks. He doesn't go easy on anyone, even undertrained Pokemon so every day this place is packed with injured pokemon. You better be wise about your choice because there will be no accommodation if the newcomers get badly hurt.'

'...a recon would be good.' Ash mused. 'We'll watch over how he fights, so we wait for a Trainer to challenge him. Besides my head is still throbbing I won't be able to fully focus on a fight anyway.'

'...good point.'

'By the way, the Nurse Receptionist insists you always carry an ID on you. You were Jane Doe 13th.'

'Huh?! But I HAVE Identification!' Misty sputtered as she took out her Cerulean Gym Leader badge. 'This thing here can be scanned since it has a Microchip with my information on it!' Ash stared blankly at the small badge.

'They didn't see it I guess. Maybe you should make that thing bigger and more obvious.' came the suggestion. 'Its as small as the handout victory badges.' Misty deflated at that.

'Seriously...?' she groaned. 'Making these things cost a pretty penny and this thing here is only free at first if the League gives it to a Gym Leader. Gym Leaders get two for free at first. Then if Gym Leaders change, changing information costs nothing before it changes hands, but if you lose the badge, you'll pay as much as you pay for a house with 8 rooms.'

'HUH?!' Ash gawked as the mere thought of paying for a mansion just to have a Gym Leader Badge was a horrifying thought to him. And its mainly because of the microchip, he could tell.

'So yes, I can't just change this even if I want to.' Misty sighed as she put it in her bag. 'I can't even lose it. Losing it will be _horrifying_. I'll never hear the end of it from my sisters who have the other one.'

'...'

xxx

They did recon research by peeping on the windows.

Lt. Surge's Raichu is clearly big, Bigger than a normal Raichu and trained hard very physically if those mostly Normal attacks were anything to come by.

Upon watching five battles, they went to eat out in a cafe.

'OK, upon seeing enough fights...Raichu is mostly a physical fighter. I noticed that all Gyms give a freebie to beginner Trainers if they're smart enough to notice the freebie.' said Ash. 'First is the Sprinkler on the Pewter Gym. A good attack will end the matches for good and win you by default if you don't have an advantageous type with you but I didn't use that though. I used Caterpie and a String Shot then Goomy's strategic water attacks. Then there's the concrete pads in the pool in your Gym. Serge's freebie is the soil ground his Gym Field is on and the fact that Raichu uses only physical attacks but surely there's an occasion when he DOES use Electric Attacks.' he began thinking.

Misty stared at him as if he grew two heads.

'Ash? What freebie are you talking about?' Misty asked him. 'We don't have freebies.'

'What do you mean? Those things are obviously freebies!' Ash said, clearly confused.

'Gyms are Gyms for a reason Ash. We won't be a Gym if we're that easy on Trainers because our job is to prepare them for the League.' Misty explained. 'You're just good with situational analysis and exploiting your terrain to your battle benefit Ash, and you wound up misunderstanding what you see in our gyms as a Freebie.'

'Uh...' Ash croaked out, baffled.

'So,' said Misty in amusement. 'How are you going to deal with Surge?'

'Well, Raichu is muscular and probably fed a lot of good food with loads of Protein. Not only that, its mostly a close-range physical fighter and uses Body Slams like how kids eat candy so its endurance and stamina is higher than a typical Raichu. And its mainly muscle so physical attacks will do half or almost no damage depending on specie and how trained they are. I'll have Bulbasaur go to be safe. Pikachu and Charmander will be totaled unfairly unless I train everyone to reach the standards of their teammates. Bulbasaur's good with distraction and the final blow will be Leech Seed. He'll have no trouble at all.'

His battle went exactly how he decided it should be and he won.

xxx

'Well, that's one way of winning without getting squished by that tough muscled brute...' said Misty.

'Yes but more training is needed. I'll have our newcomers as good as their upperclassmen in no time flat with a little dedication.' said Ash, reassuring Pikachu who sulked at not getting to fight because his species are ahem, skeletally frail. He really would be in the hospital for months if he faced that muscular hulk.

They visited the eggs that apparently hatched into subdued-looking baby pokemon.

'They're Piplup and Combee.' said Nurse Joy with a sad smile. 'They're both female and they've been like this since they hatched.'

'Well, the way they ended up here is pretty traumatizing.' said Misty, feeling sorry for the baby pokemon in a room, sharing a bed and they could see through the one-way glass.

'Can we see them Nurse Joy?' Ash asked Nurse Joy. 'And anything from the police?'

'Er...ah...classified but let's just say they'll be here for good unless someone adopts them...' Nurse Joy stammered awkwardly, letting the Trainers know the plane met a bad end. Just how, they were better off not knowing. Fearow has fear in its name with a damn good reason.

They went into the ward as Nurse Joy observed the interaction as the two pokemon looked up at the Trainers.

xxx

'Hey there ladies.' said Ash kindly. 'How are you feeling since your er...hard landing?' Piplup was the more spoken one, stammering out while looking all teary-eyed before going to Misty while Combee went to him, also crying while buzzing.

'Well, let's give em' a good life Misty. Nearly-dying has a way of changing one's outlook on life.' Ash told his friend who sadly nodded while comforting Piplup who was crying on her lap. Combee was just as upset.

'Parenting traumatized kids is something new though...'

And so...

'I'm amazed they took well with you when they barely responded to me after hatching.' said Nurse Joy. 'When they hatched, they barely responded to anything while looking so sad and despondent. Its like...they gave up on living.' she said sadly.

'Well...we'll have to do something about their Fearow Trauma too.' said Misty.

'Fearow Trauma?'

'I told Professor Oak.' said Ash. 'The babies are mentally and spiritually powerful enough to transmit their thoughts to us during severe distress and we dreamed of what happened to them. The plane they were on were attacked by a Fearow, boring a hole in the storage hull of the airplane with just one person to look over several egg baskets of Piplup and Combee. The shaking caused these two to fall off their baskets and roll down the hole...' Nurse Joy gaped.

From what she heard from Officer Jenny...

The reports were a crashed, clearly-attacked plane with a hole in the storage hull. The pilots and breeder dead. Most of the eggs didn't make it.


End file.
